The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1887-06-19
rreur Nouns = Dxx:
A Cnspt.r or Irs-seno Ceeslusseus that Ne
Net Counludn. 4.

EIGHT HOURS n DAN
A Cn,pt.r or Irs-seno Ceaelusseus that Ne
Not ceneiuds. a.
Strikes continue In different parts Of the
,ountry, owing to discrimination on tho part
Of workmen to secure reduction III tho hours
Of labor There are several features to this
question, one economic. another financial. and
a third social, and. as thoy SOON 10 be involved
and complicated, and sometimes, even contra
dictory, they should be carefully scrutinized
beforo attempting measures which might
provo to DO costly and unproatabie.
II IA common impression among mon who
have never studied political economy statsti-
cally, the only method OF study By the way
which entities the student TO be hoard, that q
reduction either in the number Of workmen or
in the hours OF work will increase the relative
demand for labor, and consequently raise tho
rate OF compensation. This opinion In founded
on the conviction that the demand for market
able products Is natural. and that 1t would
exist under any and oil circumstances. But
Il ought not to be necessary to say that such
an opinion 10 altogether mistaken.
Under prevailing methods, 'workmen do not
actually employ themselves: but they produce
tho funds which. returning through the chan
nels Of tho market furnish tho means for
their employment: and Without their labor
this fund would have no existences Say that
workman produces annually to the value Of
$1,000 In some marketable product. He adds,
then, at least $500 to his own purchasing
power, and tho full amount Of his product to the
total yearly resources Of the market. With
out his contribution, this sum would have to be
deducted from tho total OF the annual market
transactions. twill be believed. perhaps, that
The had not produced his quota, :some other
workman would have entered the field and
supplied his place. But this would be an i'm
possibility. One workman cannot perform the
labor Of two workmen. and somewhere In the
total Of market resources there would be found
q 81, 900 deficit. We see. then. that the work.
man himself has made the demand for his own
labor. or, what amounts to the same thing.
furnished the means Of paying for his labor.
The point will DO more clearly seen, perhaps,
II the illustration be moro broadly stated. Say
that one million men produce an annual prod
uct Of $1,000 each. This would make total OF
81 600 900 900; and 1t should ba needless to say
that this sum would create new demand for
the labor OF the one million men who were en-
gagged In its production. Men wonder how we
manage to absorb our immense annual immi-
grafton without demornlizing and deranging
the entire industrial system Of the country.
But the reason Is clear. Every immigrant who
manages to keep out Of the poorhouse. pays his
way from the beginningi and had we no deeper
cause for quarrel with some Of our tmporta-
lions from Europe than is to be found in their
ability to damage the interests OF labor. We
should have very little reasonfor complaint.
Now apply this illustration to the proposition
to reduce the hours Of labor from ton to eight.
and see where we land Many men in the
United States engaged II productive industry
81 Ind thor
hours day. some continuously all the year
round, and others internationally. Other mon.
again. work less than ten hours. We cannot.
therefore, make any exact calculation. founded
ON the statistics Of production. of the ef-
fects Of reducing the hours OF labor. But we
can reach an approximate estimate. There has
100000 on the annual product OF the coun::
y s9 9ssr iS pso ed L i VII
to rsasHed G oug hat
the hours Of labor 70 eight pr daS. and 81 the
sssa tss sEss = lssaas 81
s dsSb Be o od sns to
Pect to obtain as much money for eight hours
DO diminished. But somebody must suffer.
could aaHs f ps
about $4,000 900 ,oo9 in tAsa PsoduSt I ths
market indeed whore such decline could
be met without producing panic and general
foiow: and the real strinsepsy q the pressure
sn sasIs.S May a Be
men would be thrown out OF employment, and
there would Be least Of
c ere as' the demand DEM sndie Tor lsbor
eSaIa E sassysilsd:, TSs XoIkdas h: + ben p
SEQ the. experience repeated. But we should
ses aq es Wea na sd
to the 5e depsss
idea that labor is dependent on human needs
for its smploymsnt f. only In an n,
Standard h0s q living a =. least. are hnaite4
70 ES sna I'LL "a s a hs
It Is my Impression that man could escape
shS sa 6%ss re- ssssa
$40 per sesr: Some ., The stsess masieisns:T
must 1--we on even less money. Every poor man
amount expended 70. articies which he
Ssther, Of s1Chansed for chsspsl articles had
It had been an absolute necessity. MING, am
not reasoning that he ought 20 restrict himself
only reasoning that. In 4 general sense, Il Is
production that sustainAthe market. and that
we call the demand for labor A man can only
sna M %
limit. But his means win b measured by the
amount Of his contribution to the market and
To this conclusion. then, must we come at
last Economically after the market bad ad-
!psted itself to the chapGed Sondtaons: r.;
be matter of not much consequence. But.
financially. were the change 10 be made by q
sqdden and general moyement disaster must